Commanding an Air Force Squadron in Twenty-First Century

197 Pages·2003·0.54 MB·English

by  Jeffrey F. Smith

Commanding an
Air Force Squadron
in the Twenty-First Century
A Practical Guide of Tips and Techniques
for Today’s Squadron Commander
JEFFRY F. SMITH
Lieutenant Colonel, USAF
Air University Press
Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama
August 2003
Air University Library Cataloging Data
Smith, Jeffry F.
—Commanding an Air Force squadron in the twenty-first century : a practical guide
of tips and techniques for today’s squadron commander / Jeffry F. Smith.
—p. ; cm.
—Includes bibliographical references and index.
—Contents: Critical months—The mission—People—Communicative leadership—
The good, the bad and the ugly—Cats and dogs—Your exit strategy.
—ISBN 978- 1-58566-119-0
1. United States. Air Force—Officers’ handbooks. 2. Command of troops. I. Title.
358.4/1330/41—dc21
First Printing August 2003
Second Printing September 2004
Third Printing April 2005
Fourth Printing August 2005
Fifth Printing March 2007
Sixth Printng August 2007
Seventh Printing August 2008
Disclaimer
Opinions, conclusions, and recommendations expressed or implied are solely those of the au-
thor and do not necessarily represent the views of Air University, the United States Air Force,
the Department of Defense, or any other US government agency. Cleared for public release:
distribution unlimited.
Air University Press
131 West Shumacher Avenue
Maxwell AFB AL 36112–5962
http://aupress.maxwell.af.mil
ii
To my parents, Carl and Marty Smith,
whose example of truth, ethics,and integrity
shaped my life. And to my wife Cheryl and sons
Stephen and Andrew, whose love, support, and service to
our Air Force has been my inspiration to continue to serve.
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Contents
Chapter Page
DISCLAIMER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
DEDICATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
FOREWORD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -vii
ABOUT THE AUTHOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -xv
1 CRITICAL MONTHS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Before Taking Over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
The Art of Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
The First Three Months
(When the Honeymoon’s Over!) . . . . . . . . . . 17
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
2 THE MISSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Lessons of Leadership in Action . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Command Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Building Unit Cohesion and Morale . . . . . . . . 49
Formal Inspections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
3 PEOPLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Welcome. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Key Personnel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Counseling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Recognition Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Personnel Decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
v
Chapter Page
Ceremonies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Roles of Spouses and Families . . . . . . . . . . 198
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
4 COMMUNICATIVE LEADERSHIP . . . . . . . . . 105
Commander’s Call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
News of the Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Squadron Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Routine Paperwork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Officer/Enlisted Performance Reports . . . . 124
Open Door (or Screen Door) Policies . . . . . . 126
E-mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
5 THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY . . . . 131
The Good . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
The Bad: Learning How to Use
Your Authority. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
The Ugly: Times of Crises . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
6 CATS AND DOGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Honorary Squadron Commander
Programs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Closing Down a Squadron . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Money Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Dorm Inspections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
US Government Travel Card . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
7 YOUR EXIT STRATEGY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Finishing the Job and Leaving in Style . . . . 167
Change of Command Ceremony . . . . . . . . . 172
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
GLOSSARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
INDEX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
vi
Foreword
The opportunity to command is a tremendous honor and re-
sponsibility and unquestionably will be one of the most signif-
icant roles of your Air Force career. The very nature of command
is unique to the military; there is no civilian equivalent for this
level of trust, authority, and responsibility. The essence of com-
mand is leadership, and your example will set the standard for
your entire organization. For this reason, command is reserved
for those individuals exhibiting only the highest levels of in-
tegrity, selflessness, and excellence.
Leadership is not accomplished from behind the desk or by
way of E-mail; rather, effective leadership requires you to lead
from out front. Since the responsibilities of such leadership may
appear daunting to first-time commanders, our Air Force places
significant emphasis on precommand training to ensure your
readiness for these new responsibilities. Immerse yourself in
the available training to ensure you fully understand the rules
of engagement.
There is much to learn from the insights, experiences, and
recommendations of previous commanders. Lt Col Jeff Smith’s
Commanding an Air Force Squadron in the Twenty-First Cen-
tury provides some excellent perspectives from current and
graduated commanders to help set your course and prepare
you for the best job in the Air Force.
Congratulations on your command and Godspeed!
JOHN P. JUMPER
General, USAF
Chief of Staff
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About the
Author
Lt Col Jeffry F. Smith was born on 22 January 1961 in
Roswell, New Mexico. After graduating from Bishop Ireton
High School in Alexandria, Virginia, he entered the Pennsylva-
nia State University on a four-year Reserve Officer Training
Corps academic scholarship. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts
degree in Political Science and International Affairs in 1983.
He has a master’s degree in Management from Embry-Riddle
Aeronautical University and a similar degree in Strategic Studies
from Air University, Maxwell AFB, Alabama. Colonel Smith com-
pleted resident courses in Squadron Officer School in 1987, Air
Command and Staff College in 1994, Armed Forces Staff College
in 1995, and Air War College in 2002.
Colonel Smith entered active duty at Williams AFB, Arizona,
in August 1983. He graduated from Undergraduate Pilot Train-
ing in August 1984 and entered B-52G Combat Crew Training
at Castle AFB, California, where he was a distinguished grad-
uate. His first assignment was to the 441st Bomb Squadron at
Mather AFB, California, where he performed co-pilot and eval-
uator co-pilot duties. In 1988 Colonel Smith was board-se-
lected to attend B-1B training at Dyess AFB, Texas. An out-
standing graduate of both B-1B initial qualification training
and pilot upgrade training and a distinguished graduate of the
Central Flight Instructor Course, he was assigned to Grand
Forks AFB, North Dakota. He served with the 46th Bomb
Squadron as pilot, evaluator pilot, aircraft commander, in-
structor pilot, and squadron training flight instructor pilot. He
holds three B-1B time-to-climb world records.
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